Lewis Hamilton caught off guard as Ferrari star reveals unexpected new role

Seven-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton has been caught off guard in a confusing move made by his Ferrari F1 team.

It has taken some adjusting for the 40-year-old to get comfortable at the Scuderia, with his debut season providing a mixed bag of results across the first five rounds of 2025.

At the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix last time out, Hamilton could only manage a P6 finish, whereas team-mate Charles Leclerc used his six years of experience behind the wheel of Ferrari machinery to secure the team's first grand prix podium of the year.

Hamilton was left lost for words over how to improve following a disappointing triple-header, but never fear, it isn't all doom and gloom in the Ferrari garage, as evidenced by their playful social media antics.

Ferrari F1 reserve shocks team-mates with new GP job

Although the British racing legend appeared despondent across the Saudi GP weekend, encountering a surprise in the Ferrari garage appeared to provide a moment of joy for Hamilton and team-mate Charles Leclerc.

As the duo focused on extracting the most out of their SF-25 last weekend, Ferrari's F1 test and reserve driver Zhou Guanyu tried his hand as the team's photographer and videographer, catching both Hamilton and Leclerc off guard in his new role behind the camera.

In a compilation posted to social media by Ferrari and the former F1 driver, Zhou could be seen snapping the driver duo as they bounded back into the garage, catching their surprised reactions when they realised it was their fellow team-mate operating the lens.

Zhou formerly raced for Sauber across their numerous rebrands as Alfa Romeo and Stake, but was left without a full-time seat for the 2025 season, with Ferrari welcoming back their former academy driver to the garage.

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Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here she realised her background in journalism and love of motorsport could be combined, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work more closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan which she hopes to build on.

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